Thank You for Your Service, by David Finkel
by Kenneth Johnson, Science, Industry and Business LibraryOctober 8, 2013

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Thank you for your service. That phrase, the dust jacket; everyone can recognize immediately the title of this book is ironic. Or...is it?

Thank You for Your Service, the latest book from author David Finkel, is about the after-war. Everyone knows the wars: Iraq; Afghanistan. And we have all heard at least a little about the after-wars. Acronyms like PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). Injuries that might not appear in daily casualty counts, but contribute substantially to the after-war. Each day new, individual, battles in what for many may be a long campaign. And here are several of the real stories, incisively and poignantly told.

Service. A theme woven throughout this book. We already know of the service of our soldiers. In the after-war service for them has been transformed. Author Finkel also gives us candid portrayals of the brigades of others drafted into this different kind of war: widows, spouses, case workers, therapists, commanders and others, all now rendering service in the after-war.

"In California, he lies in the dark, in need of forgiveness. In Kansas, so does she.
Everywhere, the war keeps trying."